In a cellular communications network, such as one employing orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), each cell employs a base station that communicates with user equipment, such as a cell phone, a laptop, or a PDA, that is actively located within its cell. When the user equipment is first turned on, it has to do an initial cell search in order to be connected to the cellular network. This involves a downlink synchronization process between the base station and the user equipment wherein the base station sends a synchronization signal to the user equipment.
The synchronization signal consists of two parts, which include a primary synchronization signal and a secondary synchronization signal. The primary synchronization signal is used primarily for initial timing, frequency acquisitions and channel estimation by the user equipment. The secondary synchronization signal carries cell-specific information, which uses the channel estimation provided by the primary synchronization signal. Since cellular communications systems offer great flexibility in their use, improvements would prove beneficial in the art.